Los Angeles Business Journal
01/19/18

L.A. County’s New Hotel Rooms Lead State
By Caroline Anderson

http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2018/jan/19/l-countys-new-hotel-rooms-lead-state/
Los Angeles played a leading role as California saw a record number of new hotels open their doors last year, according to a report released this month by Irvine-based hotel brokerage Atlas Hospitality.

The number of new hotel rooms that opened in Los Angeles County increased 300 percent last year to about 4,300 rooms from about 1,100 in 2016, Atlas reported. The increase came as 23 hotels debuted over the year, including the Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and the Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles.

The Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown was the single largest hotel to open in the state with 889 rooms.

L.A. County looks set for another robust round of additions with more than 5,300 rooms under construction as 2017 ended, according to Atlas. The county also has more hotel rooms planned – on the drawing board but not yet under construction – than any other county in the state. There are nearly 34,000 rooms currently planned here, up 20 percent from the prior year, according to Atlas.

There are about 80,000 rooms planned statewide. The next closest region was San Diego County, which planned more than 16,000 new rooms.

Atlas attributed the unprecedented growth to low rates for long-term financing, high hotel revenue and profitability and interest from overseas investors, especially from China.

L.A. competes with San Diego and Orange County for conventions, but tourism officials say that its smaller convention center and relatively limited number of hotel rooms near the center puts it at a disadvantage.